Guidance for Research on Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Participation Among Older People: Lessons From a Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

This article provides methodological guidance to researchers wishing to develop collaborative research projects with local governments and other agencies, by describing the process adopted in a mixed methods study conducted in the City of Wanneroo (the City), a local government area in Perth, Western Australia. The study explored factors related to older people’s (60+ years) participation in community-based activities and links between their participation and levels of social isolation, loneliness, and social connectedness. The research incorporated four interrelated stages: (1) an audit of existing programs in the City and program participant characteristics; (2) focus groups with program participants and interviews with nonparticipants; (3) a cross-sectional survey to assess factors associated with participation and links to social isolation, loneliness, and social connectedness; (4) face-to-face interviews with survey respondents screened at risk for loneliness. Methodological recommendations are provided to guide future collaborative research with local authorities, program developers, and administrators, aimed at minimizing social isolation and loneliness among older people. These include the need for clear communication and documentation of mutually agreed research objectives and responsibilities from project initiation to completion, identifying and working with local agencies to maximize recruitment among “hard to reach” groups, understanding the dimensions of loneliness addressed in the selected instrument used to screen for loneliness, and integrating innovative data collection techniques when working with vulnerable groups such as socially isolated older people.

‘Oh no, not a group!’ The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well‐being

“…We asked questions about giving feedback to group organizers, the need to belong (to people, places, or other), and whether they have different times in their life when they feel like connecting to others, either one-on-one or in groups. We did not specifically talk about loneliness as it is a stigmatized topic (Campaign to End Loneliness, 2019; Dare et al, 2019;Rook, 1984); however, we did ask whether or not they felt a desire for greater social connections.…”

“…Age UK Exeter are partners in a large Social Prescribing project (Wellbeing Exeter) and had independently identified a need to broaden their client base by gaining insight from people who do not attend their day sessions or groups. Accordingly, the research set out to recruit and engage a unique, previously overlooked, and potentially vulnerable sample (Dare et al, 2019;Ellard-Gray, Jeffrey, Choubak, & Crann, 2015) at risk from social isolation and loneliness but resistant to group-based social inclusion.…”

“…one project reported 63-88% take-up, Kimberlee, 2013), and that efforts to put lonely people into groups, without the components in place for scaffolding social support (see Haslam et al, 2019), may be counterproductive as lonely people tend to experience high levels of social anxiety (Lim, Rodebaugh, Zyphur, & Gleeson, 2016). Research investigating or addressing non-participation (including non-attendance and attrition) from social and health programmes is scarce (Dare et al, 2019;Kimberlee, 2013;Normansell et al, 2016). Hence, this study targets an important subpopulation of people who may be missing out on the benefits of Social Prescribing.…”

Loneliness Among the Elderly in Rural Contexts: A Mixed-Method Study Protocol

“…A debate has surged in Spain in recent years about the increasing depopulation of rural areas—the so-called “Empty Spain” or even “Hollowed-out Spain.” In the contexts involved, experiences of loneliness and social isolation have become normal. As a more complete framework for the analysis, discussion, and understanding of this reality, we propose here a mixed-method, quantitative-qualitative protocol similar to those used in previous studies on loneliness (Dare et al, 2019). This protocol focuses on the people who live in these territories, most of whom are elderly.…”

The Sacred Power of Beauty: Examining the Perceptual Effect of Buddhist Symbols on Happiness and Life Satisfaction in China

“…The theoretical relationship between religions and subjective well-being can be traced to Durkheim's seminal research on how religious involvement can influence the rates of suicide [90]. The concept of subjective well-being mainly concerns with people's attitudinal perceptions of their lives in positive ways [31,[91][92][93]. Studies on happiness and life satisfaction have been conducted to enhance people's mental health as a universal goal [94,95], which means that individual health status is not merely the absence of physical body quality, such as illness.…”